By Yuri Tarantin
33-year-old unbeaten light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (17-0, 12KOs) of Cuba recently scored a fifth-round knockout victory of 32-year-old Karo Murat of Germany in an IBF final eliminator.
According to the WBC cruiserweight champion Grigory Drozd, Barrera is a very dangerous fighter who is capable of beating any fighter at the weight.
He trained with Barrera in Miami, and says the Cuban fighter is skilled and not to be underestimated by anyone.
"I know Sullivan Barrera, we trained with him in Miami, where last year I was preparing for a fight with Cuban coach Pedro Diaz," said Drozd. "We've sparred and then I said to myself that he is a great boxer. He's fast, well-trained, very smart in the ring. This Cuban elusive and thinks."
Regarding Barrera's chances in potential fights with light heavyweight champions Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev, Drozd said:
"With anyone Barrera will not be easy - for Sergei Kovalev, for Adonis Stevenson. With him, of course, you can box and you can win, but he will make it very difficult. "
A few months ago a fight was ordered between Barrera and Drozd's countryman, unbeaten Russian light heavyweight Artur Beterbiev. The fight never happened, but again Drozd says the contest will be hard for his compatriote.
"Artur punches hard and applies pressure in the ring, but Barrera is able to cope with that very well, and box. To defeat him, Artur needs to keep a very high pace and constantly apply strong pressure on him to pose a threat. "
Yuri Tarantin covers boxing for Allboxing.ru
